Moonstalker
by Empress Raven
Summary: Astarii 001 / Astarii ventures to Darkshore to tame a Moonstalker as her first pet and meets a Night Elf along the way who is willing to help her.


**Moonstalker**

**Astarii**

"Here," Lieutenant Dawnrunner reached out her hands to the young blood elf before her. "Take this to aid you. Once you have tamed a Crazed Dragonhawk, you will return to me for your next assignment."

Astarii accepted the taming rod and bowed gently before turning off for her task. She knew that Crazed Dragonhawks lived throughout Eversong Woods and that many could be found a short distance away. She stepped outside of the Farstrider Retreat and walked for a short distance to the Northeast before spotting a Crazed Dragonhawk flying around the shore of the river. She took a deep breath and grasped the taming rod firmly in her hands and began the taming.

Astarii was an apprentice hunter. She hoped one day to be a renowned Huntress, known by all Sin'Dorei as a hero to their cause. Hunters were taught how to tame their companion when they reached the 10th level in their training. Every hunter relied on their pet to aid them in battle. The taming process was easy to learn, but not always as easy to master. The taming rod was indeed a helpful tool. In training, the rod would exaggerate your heartflow and put an enchantment on the creature so you would get the idea of what you were doing. After you had proven yourself worthy by taming three creatures of Lieutenant Dawnrunner's choosing, then you would be granted your own taming rod. The taming rod itself was meant to direct your heartflow to the animal and put a temporary enchantment on the creature. The enchantment is merely to weaken their will to fight, and encourage them to love and trust you as their new master. Once the enchantment wore off, it was up to you to keep your new companion happy and taken care of or it would run away from you.

The pain subsided from Astarii's arms and she opened her eyes to see that the Crazed Dragonhawk was no longer attacking her. She looked to her left and saw the Dragonhawk sitting idle by her side, completely at her command. She had done it; she had really tamed a creature. Excited she turned and sprinted back towards Farstrider Retreat, the Dragonhawk closely in tow. She hurried up to Lieutenant Dawnrunner and presented her taming rod with a smile.

Lieutenant Dawnrunner looked at the Dragonhawk and then back to her pupil. "Well done." She took the taming rod from Astarii's hands and handed her a new one. "Next you will tame an Elder Springpaw. These beasts are fearsome and faithful, and make wonderful companions, but you have to tame them first which is no easy task. Tame one and bring it back here to show me."

Astarii released the Dragonhawk of its enchantment and ran off towards the mountains where she knew the Springpaw would be. She knew that Springpaw's coats darkened as they aged. She spotted a cluster of Springpaw to her right, but all had brighter coats. She kept running closer to the mountains until she finally came across a Springpaw with a dark and musty looking coat. She pulled the taming rod from her bag and held it firmly between both hands. She took a deep breath and began directing her heartflow through the rod. The Springpaw sensed her and came running in her direction. His claws tore at her armor, intent on ripping her apart. She ignored the pain and held her mind steady. The clawing began to die off, and soon it had stopped completely and the Springpaw sat by her, enchanted to her will. She bandaged up her wounds and headed back to the Farstrider Retreat.

Lieutenant Dawnrunner smiled at her approach. Many of her recent pupils had many issues with their taming; she was pleased to see a pupil who was able to master the taming on one try. She took the taming rod from Astarii and briefed her on her next assignment as the guards killed the Springpaw that had broken from the enchantment and was attempting to attack everyone at the Retreat. This time Astarii was to travel to the border of Eversong Woods and the Ghostlands to tame a Mistbat.

Astarii took her next taming rod and walked to the flight master outside of Silvermoon. She had gotten curious and already ventured into the Ghostlands long ago, gathering her flight token from the flight master there. She felt tired and worn from her last two assignments and chose to fly to the Ghostlands for a quick chance at rest. She presented her flight token and got on the back of one of the Dragonhawks there and in no time, she was flying out to the Ghostlands. The Dragonhawks the flight masters had were full grown ones, who had long since been tamed and trained to fly their passenger to wherever their flight token asked of them. The flight tokens were the flight master's ways of training. Each token had its own unique smell and markings, which worked as a map for the Dragonhawks to follow. The flight itself was short as the Ghostlands were not far from Silvermoon City. She dismounted the Dragonhawk and headed north along the road on her way back near Eversong Woods. She spotted a Mistbat on her left, just before the bridge and prepared herself. The Mistbat was far easier to tame than the previous two, it gave over its will to the enchantment quickly. Astarii was happy for that and made her way back to the flight master in the Ghostlands. She was still weary and not prepared for a walk back to Silvermoon when a flight was so much faster.

Lieutenant Dawnrunner smiled as Astarii stepped into the Retreat, Mistbat close behind her. "Well done Astarii. Im pleased to see you have taken so easily to this training. I now present you with your own taming rod. Use this rod to choose a companion for yourself. Choose wisely, you will want a creature who can defend you when needed but who will also be easily loved by you. Your first companion will be with you for a long time, so make certain you are not fickle with your choice." Astarii accepted the taming rod cheerfully. It was her first real sign of her journey as a Huntress.

"From here you are to return to Silvermoon City and journey to the Farstrider's Square within its walls. You will seek out Haltheris, a good friend of mine. He is respectful to those who show respect to him as well, do not disappoint me." Lieutenant Dawnrunner saluted Astarii and waved her along on her way.

Astarii made the journey to Silvermoon quickly and walked straight back to the Farstrider's Square. She found Haltheris at the Northern-most part of the square among the Hunter trainers. She received from him the knowledge to train and properly feed her companion and then she made her way to the Sunfury Spire. She walked confidently past the leaders of Silvermoon, not being noticed by her father, to the back of the Spire where she took the translocation orb to Undercity. She walked out of the city and boarded the Zeppelin to Orgrimmar. Her trainers, and father for that matter, would kill her if they knew what she was up to, but she didn't care. She had been planning this journey for years. She had bartered with travelers for information and maps and learned how to reach the Kaldorei territories. She had discovered that her dream animal was located in the wilds of a place called Darkshore.

Years before her training was to begin, when the Sin'Dorei were first bartering their way into the ranks of the Horde, her father had gone to Orgrimmar along with Lor'Themar and Kael'thas to speak with the Orc Warchief Thrall about their acceptance into the Horde. Originally, her mother was to accompany her father to the Warchief's city; however she had fallen ill before the journey and could not attend. Astarii had instead gone in her place. Thrall had no love for the Sin'Dorei that much had been clear. He had however been more accepting when Astarii's instinctual skills had allowed her to detect a Kaldorei spy wandering around near Orgrimmar's entrance. Thrall had introduced her to the Rangers of Orgrimmar and even given her the bow that the Night Elf, she had captured, possessed. Before they were to leave, he presented her with a creature to give to her mother as a gift of good faith that her health would return. The creature was an infant cat that had been captured near the borders of Ashenvale. The Orcs called it a Moonstalker. The creature, having been captured and not tamed, escaped from its cage and made its way through Eversong Woods and into the Plaguelands, where it met its end, but she had loved the beauty of the creature while it had still been around. She had devoted herself to taming a Moonstalker as her first pet.

She made her way from Orgrimmar and followed her maps to the Crossroads, collecting flight tokens as she traveled. Soon she found herself in Ashenvale. She traveled quickly to Splintertree Post to rest and restock her provisions before heading back into the perils of Ashenvale. The forest was home to wolves, bears, and other creatures that were far surpassed in her level of training. She also had to avoid the Night Elf encampments and cities that were around. Shortly after her swim around Astranaar she was attacked by a wolf. She managed to run off from it, and lose it somehow, but before she could heal her wounds, she looked up with a shriek as she saw a large Ashenvale Bear looming over her form. She raised her arm up over her body and dropped to the ground, preparing for death when the bear turned and headed away from her. She looked up to see another bear attacking it, a Kaldorei hunter shooting at it from behind his pet. He looked over at her with a wink as she stood up and ran in his direction, uttering "Thank you" in Darnassian as she passed him. She walked off and took the turn in the trail that would lead her towards the Zoram Strand.

Anishar looked back at where the pale elf had passed him with a look of shock on his face. He had been quite certain she was a Blood Elf who had strayed far from her home, but he hadn't expected her to know Darnassian. Tonbo strolled over to his master, hoping for a treat of apple or cheese at having killed another bear mostly alone. Anishar absentmindedly dropped a piece of Stormwind Brie in front of the bear and turned to follow the young Blood Elf.

"Wait up!" Astarii turned to see the Night Elf who had saved her running up her way. She did as requested and stopped to await his arrival. In normal circumstances she would've kept running, but this Elf had saved her life, certainly he wouldn't bring her any harm. Anishar arrived at her side, Tonbo close in tow, and stopped for a moment to catch his breath.

"How is it that a Blood Elf knows Darnassian?" He asked inquiringly. She looked up at him in surprise before laughing gently.

"My mother taught me." She replied simply.

"She was a Night Elf?" He asked, confusion sweeping over him.

"No, she was a Ranger-General like my father, only she had been stationed in areas with High Elves. Her best friend was a High Elf who had married a Night Elf and she taught her the various Elven languages. She wanted her children to be well taught so she taught my brothers and me all of them as well." She replied.

He nodded his head thoughtfully, understanding how she had been able to speak to him. "So what is a Blood Elf as young as you doing in these territories anyway? You couldn't possibly be done with your initial training." He asked her.

She looked at his face, surprised to see the worry on his face. Night Elves were the enemy, and yet here they were, speaking with no hint of a confrontation. "Im on my way to Darkshore to tame a Moonstalker as my first companion," She replied confidently.

"Oh, a Huntress, I see. Moonstalkers are indeed a coveted pet for a young Hunter. These woods are dangerous though; you could get hurt and never have the chance to become a great Huntress coming out here so early in your training." His eyes softened when he saw her look of dejection. He had not intended to lecture her. "I will escort you to Darkshore then and help you to tame your pet."

Her eyes brightened and she looked up at him. "Really? You would help me find one?" she asked hopefully. She smiled widely when he nodded his head and winked at her. They turned and began their way to Darkshore.

He allowed her to make a stop off at the Zoram Strand to collect her flight token while he kept the area clear of predators for her, and then they continued on. They reached Darkshore's edge within an hour and they began their search for a Moonstalker. After introductions, they talked lightly as they traveled. She learned his sister was following the ways of the Druid and she told him of her brothers who had taken up the ways of the Paladin and the Priest. As they walked she observed his facial features, committing every detail to memory, his dark blue hair, his short beard, his bright silver eyes and his long nose, even the pale blue of his skin. She wanted to remember his face if she were ever to see him again, so that she wouldn't attack him if she didn't need to. His eyes would flutter to her when he noticed she wasn't looking at him as well. He didn't want her to know he had noticed her eyes on him, but he had troubles not looking to her as well. Her beauty was exotic to him, and he had misread her glances for attraction and was hopeful that his attraction had been reciprocated.

"Look!" her voice broke him from his trance and he looked up to see what she was pointing to. Up ahead, lying on a tuft of grass under a tree was a sleeping Moonstalker. He looked over to her and saw she was already pulling her taming rod from her bag.

"I can set a frost trap down to keep it from harming you more than needed." He said as he began to pull his traps from his bag.

"No, you might distract it too much. Ill just tame it as normal. However, if it looks like Im going to fail in my attempt, kill it before it can kill me." She looked up at him, determination gleaming in her eyes. He nodded at her, admiring her confidence.

Astarii grasped the taming rod in both hands firmly and began to direct her heartflow through the rod in the direction of the animal. It sensed her quickly and charged. Tonbo growled lightly, wanting to attack the creature than ran to attack this new friend he saw, but did not move at the command of his master. Astarii focused deeply, love prominent in her heart and she gently sent a calming message through her heartflow to the creature. Anishar watched as she wove her enchantment, even with this creature ripping at her body, she looked beautiful to him.

The Moonstalker clawed at the female in front of it. It was free and happy in its forest; it didn't want to become someone's pet. It wanted to run free and live with the other Moonstalkers in the forest. The enchantment was beginning to weaken its will, and it soon found itself unable to attack the elf who was trying to control it; in a short time, it had given up completely and stopped attacking, coming to Astarii's side and standing calmly and obediently. Astarii cheered aloud, obviously pleased with her efforts.

Anishar smiled at her, "Well done." She turned to him with a smile and she dug a chuck of meat from her bag to feed her new pet. The Moonstalker accepted it happily and ate the fresh meat, happy to have food that didn't require much energy to receive. Perhaps having a master wouldn't be so bad.

Astarii ran up and hugged Anishar tightly, before realizing her lack of decorum and stepped away to bow before him. "Thank you so much for your help." She said as she bowed to him.

"Anytime young one," He smiled a sad smile to her, knowing she would be off to finish her training and he would never see her again. "Safe travels." He said as he walked away.

"Until we next meet," She replied with a smile before touching her hearthstone to take her back to Silvermoon.

He turned to face her, but she had already gone. "Until we next meet," he repeated aloud as hope swept across his face. He hoped he would meet the young elf again.


End file.
